Right, ok, well I only just got my tragus piercing about 3 months ago, after quite a long brawl with my parents. This was to be my 8th piercing, seeing as I have 3 in both lobes, my tummy button, and now my tragus.
At A Glance Author Ash Contact benjimaddenlover@hotmail.co.uk When Three months ago Artist Rob Studio Studio 9 Location Southend essex england I had seen tragus piercing around and saw it wasn't very common, as soon as I saw it I thought wow that's unusual that's the piercing for me. So on boxing day, me and my mum were sitting watching a film, Wayne's world 2 I think.. But anyway, I sort of sat there and I said,
'Mum if I pay for it can I get my helix pierced?' And she looked at me and said, 'Ashleigh when's this going to stop with you?' And I said 'never' jokingly, and she said 'well you only had your belly button pierced last month,' and I said 'I know but its and ear piercing and I will pay for it,' and she said 'fine, if its what you really want.' I then replied 'well actually I would rather get my tragus pierced,' she looked puzzled and then said 'what's that?' I indicated the tiny bit of cartilage over my ear hole. As soon as she saw she said 'no, no way Ashleigh, you will get in trouble at school' (which is probably true but screw them), so I said ok fair enough. And left it. Sleeping on the idea I was going to get my helix pierced the following day.
The next day my mum and dad disappeared off to work, and me and my friend beanie got a lift off her mum to town. We went and looked around at various piercing places, seeing as beanie was getting her helix pierced. We were looking around and I saw a place that did tragus piercing for £22, it was the same as helix. I phoned my mum and she was busy so she said she would phone me back when she was done with her client. (She's a midwife not a prostitute by the way.. just saw how that came across.)
Beanie and me went moping around and went to body shop because beanie doesn't use make up that's tested on animals. I was trying to work out what to say to my mum. So beanie was coming up with all different things to say, and then my phone rang. It was my mum, I answered my phone, and said 'hi mum, we just been to this place and it does tragus piercing cheaper than helix and I would much rather have tragus than helix anyway. And if I get told off at school its my own fault, and it's a waste of my money isn't it?' she sighed and said 'fine, but you are not to ask about any form of body piercing, tattooing or stretchers for 6 months.' And I sadly agreed.
After the phone call I went nuts and started jumping all over the place I think the people in body shop thought I was crazy I was leaping around singing I'm getting my tragus pierced. Yay! Yay!
I went to this place studio 9, but I didn't trust it, I had heard stories, bad reviews and things like that so I left it, phoned my mum and my dad but they were both too busy to take me to shamanics the piercing place I had my belly button done at, so beanie phoned her mum and her mum was busy. So I sadly walked home that day with only 7 holes in body L.
The next day my mum woke me and beanie up and said if we wanted to get pierced we would have to get a move on because she has to meet her sister at 2 o'clock, it was 20 minutes past 10 at this point. Beanie and me madly rushed to get ready. We left turned up to shamanics to find that it was closed. Mum then said that she would not be running us round to piercing places all day. So we headed to studio 9, on the way we saw another piercing place and went to check it out, an old lady came out and we asked if it was sanitary and she said well I don't know about Piercings I just get my tattoos done there, She said that the place was sanitary enough though. We ventured inside to find a man sitting at a laptop covered in tattoos and Piercings, He asked us what we wanted pierced I said 'tragus' and beanie said 'helix' and he said 'yeah we do those, how old are you both?' and my mum said they are both 14, which beanie isn't she's 13 lol. He apologised and said he couldn't pierce either of us. Apparently we have to be over 16 or it's classed as assault.
We turned up at studio 9 at half 11ish and the guy wasn't there until 12. So we went away to sort out my phone. And came back and the piercing room was pretty full, a girl was sitting there waiting to get her belly button pierced, and another for a surface piercing. We were waiting in there for about half an hour seeing various people come scattering out the piercing room. Then me and beanie were called in to the torture chamber, we went in. I was told to sit down on this almost dentist chair type thing, I sat there and he put two markings on my tragus one looked really far off, the other looked just about perfect, I wanted to get a second one on my tragus and the marking left just about enough room for a second one. I laid down and put my feet up against the wall, he then cleaned the area. I was a little shaky and I'm not as hard as I make out, so I held my mummy's hand the whole way through =D. He clamped my ear and it felt really tight, before I knew it this guy was shoving a 16ga needle through my tragus. I hadn't braced myself and he didn't tell me to breathe or anything. I guess it hurt more because I wasn't expecting it, but my ear really, really did hurt. I got off the chair slightly light headed, and I couldn't hear through my ear for a while, it bled a little too.
The other day, I went to a piercing place in Camden to have my bar changed as I had had it in longer than it's healing time. I bought in a horseshoe ring and went back to have it changed, the bar came out no problem and bled a little, the piercer saw it and said that it was pierced wonky higher at the back than it was at the front so sadly I can not get my second tragus piercing, I am planning on an industrial instead now, I will never go back to that place, as my friends helix was wonky and got infected and my boyfriends lip piercing swelled up so much we had to go to A&E.
Over all I love my tragus piercing and would recommend it for anyone, the piercing itself hurts but I could sleep on it the first night and had little pain and little hassle with it, its also very easy to hide for work and school.